An anti-GD2 single chain Fv selected by phage display and fused to Pseudomonas exotoxin A develops specific cytotoxic activity against neuroblastoma derived cell lines.

Since the disialoganglioside GD2 is abundantly present on the surface of neuroblastoma cells, we constructed a new recombinant immunotoxin for possible clinical use in patients with neuroblastoma. A functional 14.18 scFv-phage was obtained by selection of an anti-GD2 hybridoma derived phage antibody mini-library on the neuroblastoma-derived, GD2-expressing cell line IMR5. By insertion into the bacterial expression vector pBM1.1 the selected scFv was fused to a deletion mutant of Pseudomonas exotoxin A (ETA'). Periplasmically expressed 14.18(scFv)-ETA' bound to the GD2 expressing cell line IMR5, but not to the GD2 negative Hodgkin-derived cell line L540Cy as documented by ELISA and flow cytometry. The recombinant immunotoxin (rIT) inhibited cell viability of IMR5 cells by 50% at concentrations (IC(50)) of 0.326 microg/ml. This recombinant immunotoxin will be further investigated in vivo for its value as a new immunotherapeutic agent for the treatment of patients with neuroblastoma.